Don't Worry Be Happy

Final reflection: My English Competence in 2010

2010-05-13T21:46:00.003+02:00

These are my best oral evidence and my best written evidence .

I have chosen this oral evidence because I think that in spite of the pronunciation which wasn't perfect, I expressed myself clear and the oral presentation was very well structured. Also I used some specific vocabulary that I had never used before so I think that it is my best oral presentation, in addition in the others I was a bit nervous so this is the one I was more quiet.

Regarding my best written evidence, I have chosen this one because I think that I used some good arguments, it was well structured and I used some connectors.
I really don't know which essay to choose, because I think that this one is quite good too. I didn't choose the others because they are shorter or not as well structured as these ones.

Final reflection: My English progress.

2010-05-13T20:40:00.006+02:00

I'm going to compare my first composition with my last composition. What I can see is that I used to use short sentences and I didn't link much of them with any connector or post-fillers:"I like going to the mountains a lot so I go to summer camps/routes...". Nowadays I make longer sentences with connectors, as you can see in the second paragraph:"On the one hand, it's clear..... pushing the others to the abyss.".
Regarding the oral presentation, I think that my first oral presentation was quite good because I talked about an experience I had. The structure was right, the language used had some new vocabulary I learnt in Scotland, the presentation, the fluency and the pronunciation could improve but they were quite good. My last oral presentation was the one made in London so I think that it wasn't much better that the first I did, because it wasn't as prepared as the other. Despite that I think I have made a progress in the way I make the oral presentations because now I have more experience and I have learnt some useful things. My compositions have also improved, now I try to use as many connectors as I can, and I also try to use some phrasal verbs and new vocabulary.

Opinion essay: Mind-body therapies.

2010-05-13T20:31:00.002+02:00

In our country mind-body therapies are becoming popular. Yoga, relaxation and group therapy classes are done in lots of centres and they are taking importance among the population. In my opinion, mind-body therapies must have something special, if not, people wouldn't go.

I believe that our mind must have some kind of connection with our body, so our body reflects our mind state. That's why I think that mind-body therapies can improve our health. In the same way we feel bad when we are depressed, when we are happy and optimist, our body has more energy and feels better.

In conclusion, I don't agree that mind-therapies are a waste of time because it's obvious that our mind and our body are connected and the state of one or the other affects ourself.

Discussion essay: Minority languages are likely to die soon in a global world.

2010-05-13T20:21:00.002+02:00

In the last years our world has experimented some radical changes which could have fatal consequences. One of these is globalization. There's some people who believe that globalization will kill minority languages, but others defense that there's still hope.

On the one hand, it's clear that a global world makes and important pressure to minority languages because, as you know, English is becoming the most important language in the world, pushing the others to the abyss.

On the other hand, minority languages won't die till all the speakers die. So, it's a long process before a language disappears. Furthermore, there will be always written evidences, that will remain throughout the years, but really a written language is not as a spoken one. See the example of Latin.

To sum up, minority languages are under pressure but despite that, they will be always there. What is clear is that time will tell us what will happen eventually.

LOST

2010-05-13T19:48:00.003+02:00

LOST final is approaching, there are just two chapters left, the producers have made three different endings and they still don't know which will be de definitive one. Surely they will keep all the versions and after the official ending they will show the others.
One of the things I like the most is the way they connect all the events that take place. Every chapter uncovers another mystery, that's why everyone is expecting the ending of this fabulous series.
In spite of that, the thing I don't like is the fact that the producers and creators really didn't know which way they have to follow, I think that they had an accorded ending but didn't know what could be in the middle, between the starting and the final. So it seems that they have made lots of decisions on the fly. That's why they had different endings for season five and six.
Although, it's a great series that will remain on our memory because of his intrigue and the innovations it have brought specially in the narrative ways.
In two weeks time all will be finished and we will finally find out the answers to all our questions.

NBA playoffs

2010-05-13T19:09:00.003+02:00

As you maybe know, NBA playoffs are being played. The conference semifinals will finish in a few days and it must be said that they are being really spectacular. The series were: Phoenix Suns-San Antonio Spurs, Los Angles Lakers- Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers-Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks.
Three of the series have been decided very fast, with just four matches (4-0) Phoenix Suns, LA Lakers and Orlando Magic have classified to conference finals. With any doubt Orlando Magic-Atlanta Hawks have been the most spectacular series, Orlando have won the matches with an average of 23 points per match. It have been as a kid game for Orlando.
Obviously Cleveland Cavaliers-Boston Celtics is being the most disputed series of the semifinals. Nowadays are 2-3 with Boston leading the series. It's being a titan war, a star battle: LeBron for Cavaliers and Rondo and Allen for Celtics.
Lakers didn't have much troubles and completed the series easily with a magnificent Kobe and a reliable Gasol.
Will see what happens with this interesting series between Cavaliers and Celtics.

Guild Wars 2 is coming

2010-05-10T13:17:00.010+02:00

Last year I talked about Guild Wars, one of the best games that I've ever played. The game started to be sold in 2005, it's a MMORPG and PVP game. So Anet is developing Guild Wars 2 which has lot of expectation from the fans. Guild Wars 2 uses an improved version of the Guild Wars game engine. In PvE Guild Wars 2 will use a persistent world but it will still utilize instanced content to tell the story. Really it will start a great revolution in MMORPG world: It will be free of monthly payments, nice graphics and it will brush the limit of the interaction between all the players and the interaction between the players and the world.
The releasing dates are not accorded and the beta ones neither, but surely next year we will be enjoying of this game.

Here you have some videos:

Barcelona beats Olympiakos to win Euroleague

2010-05-10T12:42:00.007+02:00

Yesterday, Barcelona won Olympiakos in the Euroleague final (86-68). Navarro was the MVP of the final. Olympiakos couldn't stop the fast game that Barcelona was playing.

Really the match was really exciting, and despite the high quality of Olimpyakos players, Barcelona put up with the pressure. Ricky, Navarro, Ndong, Mickeal and the others made a fantastic match whith very few errors. Morris was spectacular doing lots of blocks, intimidating the other players. Actually we can say that Regal FC Barcelona is nowadays the best european team.

The news.

Trip to London

2010-05-07T19:37:00.003+02:00

Man arrested over Times Square bomb plot

2010-04-19T13:15:00.008+02:00

As you maybe know on Saturday there was an attempt of car bombing in Times Square. The authorities have made a progress apprehending a man called Faisal Shahzad who was attempting to travel to Dubai from New York airport. The car was hired from a second-hand car park shop in Connecticut. But the investigation is still going.

Is easy to think on the consequences of this terrorist act, I don't understand how can people act in this way. United States seems to be the objective of many terrorist organizations, surely in some days we will be able to know which was behind this attempt. In my point of view is better to don't look for troubles with USA because you could finish with your tail between your legs.

The news

Jenson Button revels in 'best' Formula 1 victory

2010-04-19T12:36:00.009+02:00

Last weekend the Chinese Grand Prix took place, and once again F1 shows that it isn't boring at all. Lots of things happened: at the start of the race Alonso started before the lights went off, so he was penalized with a drive-through. After that it started to rain and the monoplanes went into the pit lane to change the tyres. Button chose the best strategy: he resisted driving with the slicks under the drizzle while the others decided to change to intermediate tyres. So he finally won the race getting 25 points and now he is leading the classification.
It was really a mad race, but I think that in Barcelona we will see a quiet race. Despite of that it will be very interesting.

The news.

Formal letter: Unfair agriculture.

2010-04-09T12:17:00.003+02:00

From: desmondhume@gmail.com
To: presidency@unitednations.org

Dear secretary-general,

My name is Desmond Hume and I am an Intermon Oxfam supporter. I am writing this e-mail in order to complain about the unfair situation the African agriculture suffers. Our NGO would like to see UN doing something on that affair. The Africans are working hard in the fields and European companies make the most of them just paying a miserable amount. Besides, those companies sell these products in modern countries with high prices. Therefore it is needed to implant fair trading rules on those countries.

Yours faithfully,

Desmond Hume.

Podcast: Mr. Darcy's description

2010-03-12T16:19:00.000+01:00

Spotify

2010-03-06T15:40:00.005+01:00

I'm sure that you have heard about Spotify, a P2P music streaming service that allows you listening to music without waiting for buffering. You can search the music you want by the song's name, by artist, by album, etc.

The key of his success is that the owners had sign a contract with the majority of music producers that allows them to offer these music in his program. So really, they are paying for it, this is the reason why in the free version there are advertisements every X minutes. So I think that it is a good initiative and a good solution for music piracy, because, sincerely, I prefer having a program installed in my computer using 3MB of memory (approximately) than having tens and tens of GB occupied by illegal music. And another important thing is that there is a huge amount of music of every style, and every time there will be more and more. In addition, the sound quality is perfect.
So, in conclusion, I recommend you to sign up and make the most of this service.

Here you have the link: Spotify
(The problem is that I don't have invitations any more, when I signed up invitations weren't needed)

Diatoms

2010-03-05T18:57:00.004+01:00

Today I'm going to talk about the most abundant group I found during my research project and the most spectacular one because of his beauty: diatoms.

Diatoms constitute a very large number of species (about 10,000) grouped in 200 genera.
They can live in all kinds of wetlands sufficiently illuminated. Most of them form part of the plankton. His colour is yellow-green because of the pigments in their plasmids.
His most notable character is the presence of an external skeleton composed of silica (silicone dioxide, SiO2) called frustule. They are the most common species of phytoplankton and they represent the 45% of primary production of the oceans so they are very important producers. In addition, they are very used to study the water quality.

Here you can see some pictures I took of them:
Diatoms

The Big Bang Theory

2010-03-05T12:33:00.003+01:00

The Big Bang Theory is a TV comedy about two prodigy physicists, Leonard and Sheldon, who live in front of Penny, a waitress who wants to be actress. Leonard and Sheldon are characterized for being very freaky: addicted to video games as Halo and World of Warcraft and fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings and Superman. They also have two friends: Howard and Rajesh who are a clear example of 'geeks'.

All starts when Penny is moving to the floor in front of Leonard and Sheldon's one. Immediately Leonard falls in love with Penny.

I recommend you to watch this comedy because it's very funny, a prove of that is that is one of the most seen series in the USA after LOST.

Here you can see some scenes:

Formal letter

2010-03-05T10:18:00.002+01:00

38C Kingston Street
Miami
99V56Z
12th January 2010

Great Avenue
Memphis
57F002

Dear Mr. Clooney,

I am writing in order to explain that I am worried about the future of our planet. In the last summit did not decide anything important so I wish this year you would decide something important to change the fate of the planet.

Personally I am quite optimistic and I think the whole world should be as optimistic as I am and start acting.

Politicians should enforce laws to decrease carbon dioxide levels of the atmosphere and protect more natural zones. Although, people can also help recycling their rubbish.

Professionally, as a biologist I will become, I will be able to help protecting the habitats of endangered species and studying in which way can we help improve their existence.

I would like you to transmit my ideas in the next summit. Thank you very much for your time.
Yours sincerely

Oriol Llorà

F1 tests.

2010-03-03T15:33:00.004+01:00

Last Saturday I went to Montmeló to attend the last F1 tests before the start of the championship. It was really spectacular, the engine sound was completely different from the one you can hear in the television. The sound was very loud so sometimes you had to cover your ears because it was really painful. My father, my brother and I spent the whole day there and we could see the new cars and the new teams that there will be this year: Lotus, Virgin and Mercedes-Petronas (which was Brawn GP last year). Of course we saw the new Ferrari driven by Massa and also we saw last year champion: Jenson Button who this year is driving for McLaren. These are the times of the session:

1	N. Rosberg	Mercedes	1:20:686		128
2	S. Buemi	Toro Rosso	1:21:413	+0.727s	106
3	J. Button	McLaren	1:21:450	+0.764s	105
4	R. Barrichello	Williams	1:21:975	+1.289s	101
5	F. Massa	Ferrari	1:22:344	+1.658s	115
6	V. Petrov	Renault	1:22:523	+1.837s	68
7	A.Sutil	Force India	1:22:606	+1.920s	61
8	S. Vettel	Red Bull	1:23:123	+2.437s	51
9	J. Trulli	Lotus	1:25:059	+4.373s	102
10	K. Kobayashi	Sauber	1:26:216	+5.530s	105
11	T. Glock	Virgin	1:26:216	+5.619s	31

We also tried a F1 simulator which was really realistic because the seat had some hydraulic-suspensions and when you brake, it pushed you forward and when you accelerate it made the inverse. Also if you go out of the limits of the circuit it shook you a lot. Really it was quite good but a bit hard to drive.

New: Chile's long experience of quakes

2010-03-01T12:47:00.005+01:00

Chile is a one of the places with higher risk from suffering an earthquake. It is because the country lies on the "Ring of Fire" and is located between the contact of Nazca plate and South American plate which brush past each other and causes earthquakes.

People in Chile is used to earthquakes, but the one which took place last weekend had a magnitude of 8.8 which is very high, even for Chile.
This was more powerful than the one which took place in Haiti, but the main difference is that Chile infrastructures are more well-prepared to put up with an earthquake.

Alarm sounds were heard along the pacific coasts to warn about the imminent arrival of the tsunami which had been formed by the effects of the earthquake.

The new.

Oral presentation

2010-02-23T16:58:00.010+01:00

Presentation

I used a Powerpoint with images which were related to the topic and the time was correct too. So I put a 10/10.

Body language and eye contact.

I looked at the audience the majority of the time except some times when I looked my papers to know where I was, but I didn't read from the notes. So that will be a 8/10.

Structure

I introduced the topic, the ideas were well organized and it was well structured. So that's a 10/10.

Content

I think that most of the information was new for the audience and that the message was clear so people could understand. So it will be a 37/40.

Language

The grammar wasn't so complex but the vocabulary was varied. I used some connectors and fillers. So it's a 17/20.

Pronunciation and entonation

The pronunciation surely wasn't the best but I think it was comprehensible and the tone of voice changed during the presentation So that part will be a 7/10.

Total: 89/100

New: Species' extinction threat grows

2010-01-11T12:51:00.007+01:00

The number of species endangered for extinction is growing very fast and the authorities aren't fighting to preserve these species. The numbers are frightening: 47.677 species are endangered of which 17.291 are critically endangered. I think that's very important to preserve the biodiversity in our world because in a future we will suffer the consequences: each organism have a function in the ecosystem, so if one of them die the other species suffers the effects and all the life cycle is affected.
If we don't start acting lots of species will become extinct. I think that the best solution is making more natural reserves to protect the species and avoid the humans exploiting their habitats.
I'm quite optimist and I think that we still have time to save some species because it's our responsibility to act.

The new

New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-09T13:02:00.003+01:00

My New Year's resolutions are:

I hope I will pass Selectivitat exam and get enough mark to study what I want. Then if I get enough mark, that I'm sure I will because the needed mark it's not high, I will start my degree.

Also I will try to travel as much as I can and visit interesting places. In a future I would like to do Camino de Santiago because I love trekking so I think that maybe in one or two years time I will do it. This year I'm going to London so I hope to make the most of the experience in company of my friends. In addition, surely at the end of the course, after Selectivitat, we will go somewhere to celebrate the end of Batxillerat and it will be a kind of farewell.

And also I would like richest countries doing something to help the world, reducing the pollution, the poverty and those problems from what we are responsible.

HUMAN RIGHTS

2009-12-04T13:44:00.000+01:00

1. What are human rights?
Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled.
2. When did human rights start?
The human rights were made by the United Nations General Assembly on 1948.
3. Why were they created?
They were created as a response to Second World War to protect the rights and freedoms of people.
4. How many human rights are there?
There are 30 human rights.
5. Which human right were you not familiar with?
I wasn't familiar with the article 14 which says that everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. I think that sometimes this right could be very useful for people who have done any crime.
6. Choose one human right and discuss:
I think that article 3:Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person is the most important one because is which preserve the essence of a human. So I've chosen this right. I think that in my country it's respected as you can see in this link. When there was Franco's dictatorship it wasn't respected surely and nowadays is not complied in some countries with dictatorship gorvernment.
7. Are Human rights relevant in the world today?
I think they would be relevant if in every country are complied.
8.Participate on Facebook.

Are paper books dead?

2009-11-26T19:04:00.003+01:00

Nowadays paper books are still used but e-books have appeared. E-book is a nice invention that will change the world of books: you can download books, modify it, write on it,etc. In my opinion paper books will never disappear because there will be always people who prefer paper books because of their special characteristics.

I would say that paper books can't be replaced by e-books because they have an special smell, touch an other characteristics which e-books could never have.

Furthermore, how will writers earn money if we are able to download books from Internet? That's a big problem to solve and there's just a solution: pay to download books. Although printers are going to be unnecessary so we have to think what's better for our society. I've decided what's better, and you?

In conclusion, it's clear that in some years e-books will be the usually way to read a book, but as I said those characteristics I said before are the essence of book and e-books will never have them.

National Geographic best pics 2009

2009-11-26T18:59:00.004+01:00

Really all the pictures are amazing but I think I will choose this one because despite the strength of the waves that we can observe, it transmits me lot of calm and peace, so I choose that one.

New: In life of mysteries, Jackson's changed color baffled public

2009-11-26T18:34:00.003+01:00

As you know Michael Jackson has been treated of being racist to change his skin colour. It has also been said that he had a skin disease that destroys the pigmentation of his skin and it could explain the colour change of the King of the Pop. According to the article it's very rare that vitiligio could effects the whole body and get back the colour it's practically impossible so the other solution is to lose the entire colour with a medication and become white. It seems to be what happened with Michael Jackson. Furthermore this medication is toxic and to lose the colour of the whole body will take like eight years taking the medication every day. So it could be the reason of Michael Jackson death.

I think that it could be true but it's also obvious that Michael Jackson had been operated for other things like nose or lips.

Film review: Twilight

2009-11-26T18:00:00.002+01:00

Isabella leaves her mother to go to live with his father in Forks, Washington. There she meets some friends and she started to be interested on Cullen’s son who is very mysterious: Edward. In a occasion Edward saves Bella from being hit by a van stopping it with a hand. Then she starts to investigate and finally she finds out that Edward is a vampire, but the power of love is stronger than fear and she falls in love. Edward love her too but he doesn’t want to hurt her, althought he introduce Bella to his family. In the village there are some mysterious murders and police started to look for the responsible.

Coca-Cola and hamburgers: the most consumed products in the world

2009-11-26T17:28:00.004+01:00

6.4 billion litres of Coca-Cola are sold every year, in over one hundred and sixty countries.
The drink was invented by Dr. Jhon Pemberton in Atlanta on 8 May 1886 as a healthy drink, but it was given the name Coca-Cola by his partner Frank Robinson, because it was originally made from the coca plant.
The first factory was opened by Asa Candler in Texas (1895), where is still made. Billions of bottles and cans have been made since 1895 but the recipe is still unknown.

As you know Coca-Cola is a highly consumed product all over the world like hamburgers, so let's talk about hamburgers history now.

The hamburger is the most eaten food in the world. The first hamburgers were made in Connecticut by an American: Louis Lassen. Louis called them hamburgers because sailors from Hamburg gave him the recipe. The hamburgers started to get popularity and their boom started with McDonald's restaurants which had bring it to the top of the most eaten food.

As you can see the most eaten products in the world are maybe the ones that are not so healthy and are typical of fast-food restaurants.
So now you know the history of these well-known productes that we consume often.

A good question

2009-11-26T17:02:00.004+01:00

As you surely know in the Usa you can bring a gun or any kind o weapon with you and it's totally legal.

It's because in their laws they say that you have the right to protect yourself. The problem is that everyone has a weapon in his car because they know that other people do the same, so there are often shootings in the middle of the street which usually conclude with injured people or deaths.
Moreover, you don't need a licence to get a gun and there aren't any controls, so it's very difficult to know who is the murderer and catch him because the police don't have any list or other type of document with the names of weapons owners.
Weapons in the USA are sold as if they were bread or any other product of a supermarket.

The question is: Is it a good way to ensure our self protection?
I think that it isn't. Society had gave the power of justice to the government (the police), it's their job to keep the peace and protect the society so let them do their job.

Are new technologies changing our habits?

2009-11-26T16:40:00.004+01:00

Nowadays our society is living in a world with so many technologies: iPhone, iPod, Internet, social networks,etc. So it's good to remember that an excess of technology could be bad for our society because these advances force us to forget other habits like practising sport or other things.

We can observe that in new generations, since they are little they have been living in a technological world with computers, Play Station, Xbox, Nintendo...
Even so, these new technologies (NT), especially Internet, have given us lot of information, too much information and other ineventions like iPod allow us to have lot of music, huge amount of music, on a little object which you can carry anywhere you want. So NT helps us a lot, but we have to know where the limit is, if not, in some years the world will become a place where people will depend on technologies and I think that it's not good for humanity.

To sum up, technologies are very useful but they could be dangerous on long term basis.

Five thousand new species found in deep sea

2009-11-24T16:15:00.003+01:00

Link

Well, I think that is really important discover new life in deep sea because then scientists will be able to study how these species had been adapted to their habitat and see the differences between these new-known species and the others. Furthermore these things make us conscious about how strong is the strength of life to be able to adapt on any habitat.

I think that in the next years scientists will discover a huge amount of species because nowadays we just know a little part of the species from all over the world. And surely they will show us some things that could be use in our society as medicines or others things.

Oral presentation: Apple vs Microsoft

2009-11-22T15:12:00.004+01:00

Presentation

We used a Powerpoint with images and a video which were related to the topic so I think that in this part we didn't fail. Although we were three and the oral presentation lasted 10 minutes so we should do a bit longer. So I put a 9/10.

Body language and eye contact.

I looked at the audience the majority of the time except a moment when I was lost and I read from the notes. I was standing all the time in the same place and with the hands in my back to make sure I didn't look to the notes. So that will be a 6/10.

Structure

We introduced the topic and we asked some questions. I think that the ideas were well organized we used some discourse markers and we did a conclusion about what we think of the topic. So that's a 10/10.

Content

I think that most of the information was new for the audience, information wasn't so extensed but it was the necessary. Our opinions in the conclusion were justified and we show some examples with images and the video. I think the message was clear and people could understand. So it will be a 35/40.

Language

The grammar wasn't so complex but the vocabulary was varied. We used some connectors and fillers. So it's a 15/20.

Pronunciation and entonation

The pronunciation surely wasnt the best but I think it was comprehensible. The tone of voice changed during the presentation but there were some interruptions when I losed the world and didn't know where we were. So that part will be a 8/10.

Total: 83/100

A Joke

2009-09-28T12:53:00.002+02:00

The Pepper Pots

2009-05-30T13:23:00.005+02:00

Last night Albert,Guillem and me went to Girona to the presentation of the new album of The Pepper Pots: Now!.

The Pepper Pots is a group created in Girona and they play 60's black music: soul, rock steady, ska, reagge... They are known over the world and they have made tours in Japan,France, Germany, Txec Republic, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

We went to the concert because we like how he plays ska classic music but in his new CD there isn't so much, so at the start it was a bit boring because all the songs were soul but finally they strated with ska and reagge songs and it was much better.

Here you can see a concert made in Germany:

Cup, League and Champions

2009-05-30T12:55:00.009+02:00

Well finally Barça won Champions last Wednesday in Rome. At the start of the match Manchester United had the control of the ball and I was very nervous because Barça is a team that needs the possession of the ball.
The first time that Barça controlled the ball, Eto'o scored a fantastic goal. Since this goal Barça had improve his way of playing and Manchester United seemed to be out of the match.
At the start of the second half, Barça started with the same strength as the first half. They made a lot of goals occasions but Manchester goalkeeper avoid them and one of them crash into the post. Barça sentenced the match in 70 minute with a fantastic head goal by Messi. Manchester United was defeated.
That will be remembered during some years because not every day a team gets the three titles. Moreover it could be the start of magnificent future seasons by Barça.

F1 Monaco

2009-05-26T15:14:00.004+02:00

Last weekend the F1 race had place in Monaco. This circuit is very special because it's a urban circuit and all the circuit is full of guard rails so it is very dangerous because the circuits is too narrow and if the cars touch the guard rails, there are spectacular accidents.

At the start of the race some teams choose to bring soft pneumatics and during the race some of them had some problems with it so the other teams reserved these ones for the last stem in the pit lane.
L.Hamilton crashed into the guard rails in the classification season so he started the race in the last position.
Alonso had classified in ninth position and after a good strategy he ends the race in the seventh position, but he needs a better car yet.
Brawn GP did a magnificent race as all the people was expecting, J.Button won the race and Barrichello was second.
After a bad start Ferrari seems to be in a good moment, Raikkonen finished the race in the third position.

In general the race was quite interesting at the start and in the end when Alonso was the fastest car in the circuit and really near to pass N.Rosberg

The Platypus

2009-05-20T16:36:00.005+02:00

I'm sure that you have heard the platypus and I think that is an interesting creature to talk about.

The Platypus or in Latin name Ornithorhynchus anatinus, is a mammal that lives in Australia. It's is a very strange mammal because it lay eggs and their physical characteristics are too different from normal mammal characteristics. It has a poisonous spur, a duck mouth, a beaver tail and otter feet.

So when the European naturalist first saw it they thought that it was a fraud and they tried to decompound the creature. If you visit the British Museum you will see this platypus with some cuts.

Certainly it was a difficult animal to classify because it seems to be a mixed creature, but finally scientists decided to classify it as a mammal because it has breasts to feed up the little ones.

Barça

2009-05-17T12:08:00.002+02:00

Do you think Barça is going to win the league, the cup and the Champions?

The last matches show us a wonderful team that seems unwinnable and with players that score more goals than a whole team. So it seems that Barça has all in favour to win all the titles but as Guardiola said, we have to be prudent.

If nothing bad happens this year we will see Barça lifting up more than one cup.

El Hormiguero

2009-05-17T12:04:00.003+02:00

El Hormiguero is a TV programme broadcast by Cuatro and is one of the most viewed programmes of Spain.
The programme is presented by Pablo Motos, who is a comedian and his team is formed by a bit crazy people that take part in different parts of the programme, and always there is a famous person as invited.
Maron is who does “El Efecto Mariposa” (which is very spectacular) and “Supervivencia en Casos Extremos” (that sometimes are stupid things). There is a crazy scientist, Flipy, who sometimes does really interesting experiments. Then, there is Jandro, a magician and clown that does spectacular magic tricks. There are Juan and Damian who do “El Quiosco”, where they laugh about the things that appear on magazines.
And the last collaborator is Raquel who does “Pilleria: Sí , Delincuencia: No” and “Se va a liar parda”.

Mago de Oz

2009-05-17T12:02:00.003+02:00

As you maybe know, this year in “Barracas de Figueres” Mago de Oz is going to do a concert of its tour called: “La Leyenda de La Mancha Tour”, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. They are going to play the first songs that they composed and had brought him where they are now.
Some people say that Mago de Oz is worse than in his start and that they are very commercial. I quiet agree because their last CD is not very good. For me their best albums are: “La Leyenda de la Mancha”, “Folktergeist”, “Finis Terra” and “Gaia I”. After those, songs aren’t so good.
I’m looking forward to go because some years ago they had to come in Castelló but finally they didn’t and I was very upset.

F1

2009-05-17T11:59:00.003+02:00

This year F1 World Championship is very exciting: there is a new team that is extremely superior to the others. The well-known teams aren’t doing good results and sanctions are present in each race.
Brawn GP, the new team that comes from Honda, is dazzling everyone. His monoplanes are the fastest and the reason is that last year Brawn decided to sacrifice the car and begin to design a better car for next year, and here we have the result. One thing that is very curious is that Button and Barrichello (Brawn GP pilots) thought that this year they wouldn’t be here, and you see, they are laddering the classification.
Otherwise Ferrari and McLaren aren’t doing his best season: accidents, break downs, bad times, sanctions...
FIA is thinking about what to do with Hamilton, who in Australia Gran Prix said that other car passed him while there was a yellow flag. The FIA looked into the case and they found out that Hamilton has lied.

The Gralla

2009-03-07T15:48:00.008+01:00

I'm going to talk you about an instrument that I play: the gralla. It's a typical instrument played in Colles Geganteres and Colles Castelleres. The gralla is a wind instrument made by wood that has six holes in the superior part and a hole in the inferior part. To play it you have to blow and make pressure at the double reed. At first it's not so easy but when I got it it's easy to play. Its sound is very special because is very loud but it remembers the instruments played in the Medal Edge because it is his origin. I've played it for 5-6 years but I'm not a virtuous because I don't practise so much and I only play it on summer with the Colla Gegantera.

Here you can hear how it sounds:

Giga de Kemp.wma

LHC

2009-03-07T15:01:00.004+01:00

Well today I'm going to talk about the Large Hadrons Collider that is a particle accelerator built by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), because I think that is an interesting thing.

It is situated at 175m under France and Switzerland and it’s 27km long. To understand what is a particle accelerator you have to know that matter is made by atoms and these are composed by electrons and have a nucleus with protons and neutrons. Now I can start telling you how it works: The investigators take the ions (that are atoms which have lost the electrons and have positive charge) of heavy metals as lead and they put it in a little accelerator, when the particle gets the velocity needed they put it in LHC. Then they take another particle and do the same. When the two particles are in LHC they crash and scientist propose is to see the elements which are made the protons that are the quarks which anybody have seen it yet. How they accelerate the particles? Inside LHC there are superconducting magnets. In addition when two particles crash there is a lot of energy so the LHC is covered by liquid helium that is at -272,2°C.

The scientist want to know which is the origin of the matter, the "God's particle".

Actually, LHC isn't working because on December 2008 they had an outflow of the liquid helium and they are repairing this.

I talk to you about this because I think that it's interesting to know that there is people that is working to discover the element which all of us are made of.

Recipe: Cheese cream cake (with Philadelphia)

2009-02-27T15:50:00.007+01:00

Well, I'm going to tell you how to make a nice cheese cake. It's very fast to make it.

Ingredients:
-4 eggs
-250g of sugar
-800g of cheese cream (Philadelphia)
-50g of flour
-Some cookies
-Some butter.

Process:
1. First of all you have to put the cookies and mush them very well.
2. Then add some butter to the cookies and mix it well, you can do it with the hands (it's easier).
3. Now you have to spread the mixture of cookies and butter to the base of the baking pan and put it in the fridge.
4. Put all the cheese in a pot, then add the sugar and mix it well (it's a bit difficult).
5. Now break the eggs inside the pot and mix it, you will see that the mixture will change her colour.
6. Then add the flour and mix it.
7. Take off the baking pan from the bridge.
8. Now you have to empty out the mixture to the baking pan and put it in the oven (the temperature of the oven has to be at 190 degrees).
9. The cake will be finished in 20-25 minutes.

Now, just enjoy it!

PD. You also can spread jam at the top of the cake.

Frankenstein: The film against the book.

2009-02-26T19:11:00.005+01:00

Well, I’m going to talk about the differences between the film and the book:
In the film Victor’s mother gives a diary to Victor.
In the book Victor Frankenstein’s mother dies because she’s ill instead of it (in the film) she dies during William’s birth.
In the film Victor only has one brother: William, but the book there is another one: Ernest.
In the book Victor meets Henry in the school but in the film they meet in the University.
Another difference is that in the film the professor die and Victor take the diary of the professor and there are the instructions to create life. In the book Frankenstein investigates by his own way but in the film he follows the steps of the professor.
Frankenstein’s laboratory is on an island but in the film it’s in a village.
When Frankenstein tried the experiment he thought that it failed but then the monster wake up and Frankenstein ran away. In the book the monster wakes up very quickly.
In the film the monster saves Felix from a man but in the book anything of it happens.
In the film Victor receive a visit from Elizabeth but in the book they only talk by letter.
In the book Justine is accused of William’s murder and she dies in prison, otherwise in the film they hung her.
In the book the monster helps a girl who falls into the lake and then the girl’s father shoot the monster, but in the film it doesn’t happens.
In the book the monster strangle her but in the film the monster takes off Elisabeth’s heart.
In the film the monster kills Victor’s father but in the book Victor’s father dies because he’s very sad.
In the film Dr. Frankenstein wants give life to Elizabeth again because he loves her and the monster wants her to be his female.
In the book the monster burn himself but in the book he dies burning next to Frankenstein.

I think that is a nice film although it has differences from the film.

Polònia

2009-02-26T17:43:00.005+01:00

As you maybe know, Polònia is a comedy programme of TV3 where some actors mimic politicians of the Spanish and the Catalan government. It's very funny because they mimic the politicians very well and now when I saw the politicians on the TV they remember me their imitator. The principal actors are:

Queco Novell(as Maragall, Zapatero, Rajoy, Cuní, Laporta...), Cesc Casanovas(as Saura, Ferran Adrià, Rahola,Puigcercós, Nadal...), Bruno Oro( as Artur Mas, Acebes, Matías Prats, Aznar, Guardiola, Barack Obama), Manel Lucas (as Franco, Lluís Llach...), Xavier Noms, Xavier Serrano (as Piqué, Duran i Lleida, Herrera...), Gemma Deusedes (as Tura, Sonsoles...), Lulú Palomares(as Aguirre), Toni Albà(as Juan Carlos I, Papa...), David Olivares (as Hereu, Tomàs Molina...), Sergi Mas( as Montilla), Agnès Busquets (as Letizia, Terribas, Ruscalleda, Marina Geli...), Carlos Latre(as Pellicer, Jordi Pujol, Santi Santamaria, Messi, Hugo Chávez, Calderón...), Mireia Portas( as Mari Pau Huguet, Chacón, Raquel Sanz...).

You also can see the last programmes here

I think that it is one of the best comedy programmes of TV3. Crackòvia is the same type of programme but it only pay attention in sports.

Here you can see one of the latest personality that have been mimicked:

A nice present

2009-02-26T17:10:00.003+01:00

This year AMPA is giving prizes to the people that have the best marks of each course. The prizes are fifty Euros and they give the prize to the three best marks. They look at the marks of each term and you can only win once. If you have won in the first term you cannot win again.

This term, the first batxillerat winners have been Laura Penkert, Júlia Turró and me. I don't know if I will keep the money or if I will buy something, but one thing that I know is that this is a very good idea to reward the good marks and the work of the people.

Research project

2009-02-26T16:46:00.004+01:00

Well, this week we have had to decide which topic we want to do for the research project.

First of all I wanted to do something about the migrations of birds, but I looked up some information about this topic on internet and I saw that it was a difficult topic to do because there are two different types of migrations and in addition it's very difficult to know about where they come from when you see them.

So finally I decided to do a research project about the ecosystem of a pond but Sussi said that is better to pay attention to a certain thing and finally I decided to dot it about the microorganisms of a pond.

Media Converter

2009-02-25T17:00:00.008+01:00

Make it bigger clicking on the little screen of the right side:
Enjoy it! Link:http://www.mediaconverter.org/index.php
Media Converter

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

A nice basketball match

2009-02-18T09:27:00.007+01:00

This weekend we played against Adepaf. Adepaf actually is the second in the general classification and we are the eighth so we went to the match without motivation because we thought that we will lose for sixty points. There was another problem: Roger was ill so we have only one base (Carles) to play the entire match. My coacher decided that I have to play as base and usually I play as centre. At the first quarter we lose 22-13 and my coacher was very angry because we weren't defending at all. At the second quarter we win for three points and the team were motivated with the match. At the third quarter we play very well and I did some nice baskets, but at the end of the quarter we lose by a difference of one point. In the last quarter the public were very nervous and you could hear the people whistling. Adepaf was very aggressive in that quarter and I received a lot of faults so I throw a lot of free throws. At two minutes to finish the match we were winning but finally Adepaf catch us and we lose for four points. In was a strong defeat but for us, lose for only four points against Adepaf is like a victory. I scored 27 points in the match, which is a nice score.

The tree man

2009-01-28T09:10:00.005+01:00

There is a man in Indonesia who suffers from a terrible disease that is caused by Epidermodysplasia verruciformis. This cause is a mutation in the DNA, it affects genes that regulate the distribution of zinc in the cells. Patients have eruptions all over their bodies that have brown-red colours. This illness hasn't got an effective treatment yet.
The most famous person that suffers this illnes is an Indonesian man, he is been named Tree Man because his eruptions looks like roots. To solve his problem he needs surgery, but five months later he need surgery agin because his warts have grown again. So the rest of his life he will need surgery.

Here you can see this man:

My weekend in Campelles

2008-11-30T17:46:00.006+01:00

(Before read it, read the previous post)

Hi,this weekend a lot of things had happened.
On Friday we left from Castelló and we went to Campelles a villages sited at 1300 metres above the sea. When we arrived we had dinner and then we played to so some games near the fire. On Saturday morning the sun was shining, but, before lunch, it started to snow. It was snowing during a lot of hours so we didn't go to anywhere. We did a snow battle and we tried to do a snowman. All of us were very worried because there were people that have to leave and the roads were full of snow. Luckily a snowplow move away the snow and these people could leave. We spent the afternoon studying for the exams. In the evening we played to a game called: ¿Dónde lo pongo? that is like Secret Santa but in this game every person have a number, the people was called in order and this person have to choose one present, the next person could choose if he want to take a present or steal a present to another person. This game was very funny and there were very funny presents. Today there were a lot of snow but luckily it was shining, this morning we studied for the exams of the week and after lunch we came back home. I've had a nice weekend and I could enjoy of the snow and the nice lanscape that were in the mountains.

This weekend!

2008-11-27T18:44:00.005+01:00

Well this weekend I will go to Campelles a village near Nuria with the Colla Gegantera de Castelló to celebrate our end of year. This year in mediavals we did a stall to sell cakes that my father made. With the money that we've earned we are going to go to Campelles to celebrate it, I don't know what we are going to do there so I will tell you it on Sunday night.
The only thing that I know is that Campelles is near Nuria and we are going to sleep in a hostel. We are going to leave tomorrow so I will bring with me my Chemistry and English notebook because on Monday I have exam of Chemistry and on Tuesday there is the English exam.

See you soon!

Warhammer 40000

2008-11-27T18:16:00.004+01:00

Warhammer 40000 is another hobby that I have. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature war-games produced by Games Workshop, set in a science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics. Players assemble and paint individual 28 mm miniature figures that represent futuristic soldiers, creatures and vehicles of war. These figures are collected to comprise squads or armies that can be pitted against those of other players.
Rally I've never played a battle, I only paint miniatures for hobby, it's a nice activitie because it relax a lot and the results are nice. Actually I don't paint so much, but some years ago I painted some miniatures. I want to upload a photo of some of my miniatures but the picture is blurred :(

The Lord of the Rings

2008-11-27T17:49:00.005+01:00

As all of you now, The Lord of the Rings is a triology wrote by J.R.R.Tolkien that have became very popular. There are three books: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. I think that is one of the best books that I've read. Tolkien has an incredible mind to create the huge quantity of characters and the world of the Middle Age. So, maybe there were the films because The Lord of the Rings is a nice story that the people should know, although you don't like these types of films you should see it beacuse apart from the war, the battles and all it's a nice story. So if you haven't seen it yet or you are too lazy too read it, go to the vidioclub and take it.

Linkin Park

2008-11-26T17:06:00.006+01:00

Linkin Park is one of my favourite groups because their lyrics are nice and they do very good music.
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Since their formation in 1996, the band has sold more than 50 million albums and won two Grammy Awards.
Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory on October 24, 2000. The band sold more than 4.8 million records during its debut year. Linkin Park's second album debuted on March 25, 2003 and instantly earned worldwide recognition, going to #1 in the US and UK. Their second album, Meteora sold more than 800,000 copies during its first week. Linkin Park returned to the recording studios in 2006 to work on new material: Minutes to Midnight. The album's first single, "What I've Done" was released on April 2, and premiered on MTV and Fuse within the same week.
Both Hybrid Theory and Meteora combined the nu-metal and rap rock sound with influences and elements from hip-hop, alternative rock and electronic, utilizing programming and synthesizers. In Minutes to Midnight the band experimented with their traditional sound and utilizes influences from a wider and more varied range of generes and styles.

Official site

Guild Wars

2008-11-25T20:12:00.013+01:00

Well, today I'm going to talk about one of the best games that I've ever played : Guild Wars. The game started to be sold in 2005, it's a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) and PVP game (player vs player), in difference from other games like this, you don't have to pay every month to play in it. The game has very good graphics and is easy to control it. I've played it since 2006 so I have a lot of experience in it, to learn all the things it takes 6 months - 1year because there are a lot of things and it's like another world. To play you have to choose what type of character you want to be: warrior, elementalist, mesmer, monk, ranger, necromancer, assasin, ritualist, paragon or derviche. I meet a lot of people in the game from all over the world.
During this years some expansions appears so now there are the game and three expansions. Guild Wars has a lot of rivalry with other nice MMORPG game World of Warcraft but you have to pay every month to play in it.
Next year Guild Wars 2 will be in the shops and there is a lot of expectation because it will problably be the best game of the year.

Basketball

2008-11-21T15:59:00.005+01:00

Today I'm going to tell you about my favourite sport: the basketball.
I've played basketball since I was 7 years old. I started because I didn't like football so I wanted to try something different like basketball. The first years we played in a mixed team, with girls. We won some matches but one year we had to do only boys team so we started to lose a lot of matches jajajj Then we had a lot of problems to find people so there were matches that we lost because we weren't 8 players. Finally the younger team had to play with us so we lost a lot of matches too. Some yeras ago the people left the team and there were only Albert and me, so we had to play with the older team. Three years ago Roger, Xavi, Oliver, Arunas, Jordi, Samurai and some other people comes to made a team. We started to win matches and the younger players came to play with us because they hadn't got team. Last year we get a very good position at the classification so this year a lot of people from other villages comes to play in our team. There are people from Figueres, Roses, Cadaques... So this year we play at A level that is more difficult and actually we are in the middle of the classification.
Basketball helps me to forget the problems and the things of the school so during this years I don't stop to play it.

The birds

2008-11-19T14:55:00.005+01:00

Well, today I'm going to talk about one of my hobbies: the birdwatching.

When I was little, every summer I used to go to camp to the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà. There I met a monitor that was studying biology and every morning, at 6:00 am aproximatly, he went to watch the birds of the Aiguamolls and one day I decided to go with him. This was how I started birding,I love it because when you are watching them, they transmits to you a lot of tranquility and peace. The birds are spectacular animals. Since then I love to go to the mountains every summer and see this incredible animals. My favourite animal is the Purple Heron because she seems very elegant and smart. I love so much the prey birds because they are very aerodynamic to fly very fast in the air to be able to catch their victims.

This summer when I went to Scotland I saw species of birds that there aren't here so I enjoyed it a lot.

F1

2008-11-05T16:34:00.005+01:00

Well, last weekend the F1 celebrated the last race of the year. The championship was very tight because L.Hamilton were leadering the classification with 7 points more than F.Massa. Massa to win the championship must won the race and L.Hamilton must be in the sixth position.

On Saturday was the qualifications for the race. Massa will start first, Hamilton fourth and Alonso sixth. At the start of the race the circut was very wet so the cars had wheels for wet. During the race it didn't rain again so the circuit got dry and the cars had to go to the pit stop to change the wheels. The most important things were the strategies so Alonso got the second position with Massa on the head of the race, in that moment Hamilton was at the sixth position so in that moment Massa was the champion. But it didn't last more because Hamilton got the fifth position... Some laps before the end of the race it stardted to rain. The cars went to the pit stop to change the wheels and then the race continued.

Two laps before the finish, Vettel catched Hamilton and got the fifth position, all the people were thinking that Massa will be the champion but in the last lap, in the last revolt, Vettel and Hamilton catched T.Glock who was going too slow beacuse he didn't change the wheels, and Hamilton finished the race in fifth position so he was the champion.

PRESENTATION!

2008-10-03T14:21:00.006+02:00

Hi all ! In my first entry I'm going to tell you some things about me.

My name is Oriol, I'm sixteen years old and I live in Castelló d'Empúries. I play basketball in the local team, this year we are going to play in A level that's more difficult. My hobbies are playing to computer games, read adventure/historical books, playing basketball, listening to music... I like going to the mountains a lot so I go to summer camps/routes. There, we do different mountain activities like trekking, mountain biking and things like that... This summer I've been in Scotland visiting Cairngorms National Park it was great!

In this blog I'm going to tell some things about my life, hobbies and other interesting things.

See you soon!